If the guy in the park ran his hot dog stand the way the members of the General Assembly ran the 2015 session, he'd be out of business. The hot dogs wouldn't be cooked until after everyone went home.

Putting off the budget and many other major bills until the last minute, when legislators are in a sleep-deprived stupor, is counterproductive and a disservice to the taxpayers. The budget, passed without a public hearing and with no input from the Republicans, now may have to be "tweaked" lest it drive at least one major employer, General Electric, out of the state. GE told employees it has assembled an exploratory team to look for "another state with a more pro-business environment."

Some legislative leaders aren't taking the threat seriously, but they should. Major corporations don't start this process, as a rule, unless they are prepared to follow through. One wonders if there are enough lawmakers who are connected to the workaday world of the private sector.

None of this needed to happen. Bills that died for lack of action could have been voted on in April. Leaders of both parties need to work together, set schedules for major bills and then stick to them. This actually was done in the mid-1990s, but since then the legislature has fallen back into midnight madness.

This year, it means at least one special session to fix the budget and vote on important bills such as:

•Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's Second Chance Society bill. This lessens the penalties for drug possession — not sales — and makes it easier for those convicted of nonviolent possession to regain a place in society. This is an important bill that will improve lives, save money and help cities.

•Police accountability. The bill would establish a new system for investigating and prosecuting lethal use of force, would require police body cameras for some law enforcement agencies and would explicitly protect the public's right to videotape police. This is a logical step in the evolution of police work.

•Domestic violence. The bill would require that a gun owner subject to a restraining order temporarily give up his firearms when served with the order, not after a hearing, which happens now. This is a reasonable response to the fact that the time of service is often a flash point for domestic violence.

•Transit-oriented development. The bill would create the Connecticut Transit Corridor Development Authority, which would help towns develop properties near transit nodes. Some early drafting problems have been cured; any local action would be voluntary and subject to local zoning. It would promote smart growth in a state dearly in need of same.

•Ivory. The Courant also urges passage of a bill that bans all sales of ivory in the state. One version of this bill allowed the sale of antique ivory; bad idea, it is easy to fake antique ivory. An estimated 35,000 elephants a year are slaughtered for their ivory trunks. Connecticut should do its part to stop the killing of these magnificent animals.